West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette’s Empirical Analysis
319 U.S. 624 · 1943
Citation profile
1,266 federal appellate · 376 district · 842 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 4,240 later decisions (424 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. (1982), Elrod v. Burns (1976)
1,266 federal appellate · 376 district · 842 state decisions — followed in 48 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Pierce v. Society of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Same · Palko v. State of Connecticut · United States v. Carolene Products Co. · Hurtado v. People of the State of California
Cited together with Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · Wooley v. Maynard · Cantwell v. State of Connecticut · School District of Abington Township Pennsylvania v. Schempp J Murray III · Epperson v. Arkansas
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 4,240 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
305 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[T]he right of freedom of thought protected by the First Amendment against state action includes both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all.”
17 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“That the pledge of allegiance to the flag, T pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’, is rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart. However, civilians will always show full respect to the flag when the pledge is given by merely standing at attention, men removing the headdress. [Persons in uniform shall render the military salute.]”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.